Truth by Brent Mills

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Psalm 25:5

I was reading a few stories in the Old Testament this week, and as I read, I was reminded of conversations I’ve had with people who struggle with the validity of the Bible. I’ve met numerous people who comment on the scientific implausibility of the Biblical narrative around the lives of Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others. As I remembered these conversations, I stopped to consider why my spiritual journey has not been filled with great doubt and internal conflict over questions like these.

I came to the conclusion that my belief in the truth and authority of God’s Word is likely based on one of two things:

(1) I am intentionally naive and unwilling to look at the HOW - the scientific and historical data to either confirm or deny the validity of the Bible.

or

(2) I know the WHO - I have relationship with the author of the Bible and my trust in Him informs my perspective.

I started to compare my faith in God to the relationship I have with my wife Kim. I am extremely grateful for over 20 years of healthy marriage we’ve had together (with a lot of forgiveness on her part). In that time, a great deal of trust has been built between us. As a result, when she tells me something, even if it seems implausible, my first inclination is always to believe her. I do not feel the need to go and “fact check” her when she shares news or information. I take her words at face value, because she has proven herself faithful to me countless times in our past.

Although I believe Kim’s words as truth, it would be out of place to expect the same unquestioning trust from a total stranger. If I asked you to believe my wife 100% of the time, you might initially tell me you agree in order to be kind and avoid conflict, but I doubt you would make a commitment to blindly trust her without any relational history to support it (and I wouldn’t blame you).

As I analyzed my journey toward relationship with God, I realized I have applied this same relational perspective to my beliefs about the Bible. While I have studied the Bible in its historical context to a limited degree (I went to Bible college and enjoy digging into God’s Word), I’m certainly not a seminary professor. However, I have 35+ years of relationship with God. In this time, an immense amount of trust has been built. And … as great as my wife is, God has extended far more forgiveness to me than Kim!

I trust the Bible because I KNOW the author.

I know His love.

I know His faithfulness.

I know His mercy and patience.

I know His plans are right. (even if His timing stretches me)

I know His words are truth.

If you’re reading this blog and you don’t have a relationship with God, you might categorize me as the naive guy I described above. If your story includes a number of human relationships where trust couldn’t be built, you may find it difficult to trust anyone (especially an invisible God) to be the source of truth. My experience is exactly that — the perspective of only one person. However, I can say with certainty that every time I explore the Bible and the way it reveals God to us through the person of Jesus Christ, my trust grows. The tipping point of trusting God happened for me at a young age, and I’ve never looked back, or regretted placing my faith and my future in His hands.

Brent

bmills@b4church.org